


Set on a Timer

by Tea_is_Not_Them



Series: Avatar Jon (AKA: Other Entities snag the Archivist) [14]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: End Avatar Jonathan Sims, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Found Family, Jon gets Bullied Lovingly, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist Wears a Skirt, Jonathan Sims Is Bad At Feelings, Light Angst, M/M, Shenanigans, The End, bastardry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:40:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25445539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tea_is_Not_Them/pseuds/Tea_is_Not_Them
Summary: Seeing the exact time of someone's death was hard to live with. Jon was not keen to get close to anyone because saying goodbye is always hard.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Series: Avatar Jon (AKA: Other Entities snag the Archivist) [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1818751
Comments: 54
Kudos: 309





	Set on a Timer

**Author's Note:**

> The End of the series. How Ironic huh? It's been a fun ride with you all! I hope that whatever I write in the future holds up to this series and how proud I am of it! A big thank you to everyone who comments and reads and kudos my work, you're all amazing and the reason this series kept going strong :D
> 
> My Socials! Sorry to get sappy lads!
> 
> Insta: tea_is_not_them  
> Tumblr: tea-is-not-them
> 
> Fanart link at the bottom!!

Tim’s date of death was exactly 365 days and thirty minutes away. Sasha’s was a weird one, going from 365 days and six hours to a much shorter six month span. Martin Blackwood’s death date was six months away, ever second ticking away like a timer. 

Jon knew these things, saw them and knew they were true. From age 14 after a near death situation, he could know peoples exact death dates and times, down to the millisecond if he truly wanted to. At first he hadn’t really known what the numbers meant, but then people died on those exact dates, he started getting the gist. Sometimes when in Uni he would tell people the dates, just to see their reactions. Most of them were disbelief, until they croaked themselves.

He stayed in his office, away from his assistants. Of course he had not enjoyed being alone, but seeing a date so close was sad, made his heart hurt in the worst way possible. He wouldn’t let himself get attached to people who would ultimately leave him, albeit, not out of their own choice. So what if they didn’t like him now? They wouldn’t be around long. Still some part of him ached with a want to be a part of the camaraderie that they all held, break room banter and get-togethers. 

It's fine though. They think he's their stuffy, uptight, asshole boss. He would just deal with it and make sure he doesn’t get too close.

\-------

Jon was a weird person to work with. He was quiet and when he did talk it was usually something rude, snappish. He had no people skills and he was a workaholic who liked to be left to his own devices. Something about the sad way he looked at everyone was unsettling. He was small, but his presence was also strongly muted. While professional, Jon dressed almost like everyday was a funeral, black and white his regular scheme. A straight black skirt or black sweater vest or blazer. It was like he was waiting on a funeral knell. 

\--------

When Jon got a text from Martin about being sick he realized that Martin’s timer was almost up. He had another day, the hours ticking by slowly, but surely as the stars went out of view of the sky. How depressing, a death by sickness. Jon was glad that it was probably going to be more peaceful than a death via murder. He answered the text, telling Martin that he should go to a doctor if he can, but to take it easy and stay safe. No matter how far he tried to push away his emotions, trying to keep his indifference and façade, he stood up and left his office. 

“Martin has a bug, he won't be in today.” Jon was surprised his voice didn’t waver. Tim and Sasha looked at him confused and he pointed to his phone and the text.

“I’m going out for lunch. Feel free to have a break.” Jon said briskly before leaving the archives. He walked fast, his eyes foggy with unshed tears. As soon as he got to his flat he let himself mourn for someone he was never close to. 

\----------

Jon had not expected to get a text that day. He had fully expected Martin to have passed away in the hours of the morning, but when his phone buzzed he noticed that Martin had indeed texted. His timer changed. His date changed. Jon felt like he was going to throw up from every emotion that ran through him. Relief, confusion, worry were all very notable. 

He would have to calm down before he went to work, so he made himself a subpar cup of tea in the breakroom before trying not to get distracted and check Martin’s timer every couple of minutes. 

\--------

When the four of them were hiding in document storage, Jon was silently freaking out. Their timers were about to go off. Sasha’s changed after he pulled her to safety and still everyone was going to die. He was close to tears but he kept himself calm, listening to the others freaking out somehow made him feel more sure of himself. They knew they were going to die, just like he knew it, it was almost comforting. Tim had a few holes in his calf, worms half dug out by a corkscrew. Martin was clean, and Sasha had a few on her ankle. 

His heart burned with the need to calm them down but he himself was so stressed out that he could faint. Looking through the glass he saw Jane Prentiss. She had two! He looked at the past one and the one above it. He had no clue what it meant but he knew what he was going to do. If it would work on her was a gamble, but he needed to do something.

“You three ok?” He asked softly. They all looked at him as if the kindness was unnatural. He supposed that coming from him it was, how sad. 

“I am about to do something monumentally stupid but you all have to trust me.” 

Martin scrunched his eyebrows, “Jon what are you going to do?” His voice was firm and Jon just ignored it, psyching himself up for the monumentally stupid idea.. 

Sasha got very stern, eyes hardening into stone, “Don’t be an idiot-”

Jon cut her off, “Too late. Once the screaming starts, run for the archive door.” And he opened the document storage door and slammed it behind him. They could watch through the windows as worms leap onto him and he powered through it with a pained face. Then he was face to face with Jane Prentiss.

Jane grinned, “Archivist do you hear them?”

“Jane. Do you know how you will die?” He answered with his own question, pushing the idea into her head like he was drilling a screw into metal.

She stared and slowly her face morphed into one of pure terror as she watched the many ways she could die. She screamed as she watched everyone disintegrate in front of her. Fear of dying, fear of dying alone, it did not matter as long as it made her stop. She was crying, he thinks, the worms screaming in unison feeling the fear of their host. They did not bite nor jump anymore, all frozen by the visions of death.

Jon huffed, watching as she lives through her death without dying. He heard footsteps and knew that they had listened to him. He turned to them and started running with them, until his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed.

\------

Coming back from medical leave was strange. Somehow his assistants were already in the breakroom when he went to go make tea for himself and he was once again reminded that Martin lived in the archives after his almost death with Jane, he was looking for a new flat, the old one's memory tainted with death. It was surprisingly clean in there as well. No worms left behind. He wondered if Jane died or just decided to leave, because he surely does not remember anything after passing out and waking up in a hospital bed. 

“Uh. Good morning?” He said timidly, everyone turning to look at him. Their timers had changed, giving all of them a few years to go. Still too short for his liking but now he knew that he could change it… He needed to explain.

“What the hell is wrong with you!?” Tim grabbed him by the sweater, “You scared us all to death! Don’t go risking your life and try to play hero!”

“Let him go Tim.” Sasha reprimanded. Jon was looking a bit like a confused owl, blinking wide eyes at the others.

“No what was going through your head boss? Just running into danger like that?”

Jon scowled, “I saved our lives.”

Tim looked close to screaming. Sasha and Martin looked close to getting in between the two of them, “Oh excuse me for worrying then! I'll just accept that you almost martyred yourself.”

“I had a plan! And it worked, it's better than waiting in a sealed room for our life to end!” Jon was never the best at keeping his temper, though usually he was isolated enough that no one knew that. His snappish behavior was showing through now. 

“Yeah and you passed out and Martin had to carry you while we all ran. Why would you throw yourself in danger like that!” Tim sounded less angry and more reprimanding. There was still genuine anger there though, and Jon realizes he doesn't know Tim as much as he should, doesn't know his quirks and anger issues, the things that set him off.

Jon looked down, brows set with annoyance and a bit of self-deprecation, “I didn’t think you all would care. I’m your asshole boss.”

“Yeah you are an asshole but we still care!”

Finally Jon shrunk, his shoulders going lax and he let himself be held up by his shirt, he looked so small like this. Tim let him go and Jon leaned against the wall, his mouth opening and closing as if he didn’t know what to say.

Sasha spoke up, “What did you even do?”

Jon sighed, finally looking up at them. His eyes looked dead, a ghostly white covering where his pupil and cornea. It was like looking at something long gone, “I made his witness her own death. I can make people live through their end even if it won't kill them. It bought you all time to run. It’s been a long time since I’ve done it, so I might have overestimated my abilities.”

“Wait wait wait. How can you do that?” Martin asked, he looked a bit worried. Jon wondered how badly this was going to end up for him after the explanation, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“I don’t know. I started being able to do that and see the timers when I was fourteen.” He pauses before scrunching his nose at telling them too much, “By timers I mean that I can see when everyone will die.”

It was quiet for a moment before Jon broke the silence again, rambling slightly, “When the archives were infested the timers were cut down and if I didn’t do anything she would have gotten through and killed us all anyway. So I had to do something even if it meant throwing myself into the line of fire.”

Sasha picked up the edge of the conversation, “Did anything happen when you were younger to make this happen?”

“I almost died actually.” He looked like he didn’t want to say anything about it so Sasha backed off of that topic.

“I apologize for being less than pleasant of a boss. I will admit, while not an excuse, you all had death dates that were less than a year, so I was hesitant to get close. That was wrong of me.” Jon looked down again, waiting for the answer.

“We forgive you idiot. How about after today, we all have a few days to talk and actually get to know each other?” Sasha said. Jon looked up and smiled with a nod.

“That sounds nice.”

\-----------

“I will not dress up as the grim reaper to the office Halloween party!” Jon groaned loudly, a hand on his face. Tim was cackling and scrolling through different ones, showing pictures of ones he thought were especially hilarious.

“Ooh what about this one?” Sasha pointed, her smile edging on mischievous. Martin looked over from his poetry and choked. 

Jon’s face twisted in disbelieving disgust, “Absolutely not!”

“No sexy grim reaper? Come on it would be fun! THERE'S A MATCHING ONE!” Tim pulled up the website while Jon sounded absolutely tortured. Martin was snickering though.

“Let's all go as sexy spooks! Bonding!” Tim was having the best time of his life during his break, tormenting his coworkers and boss.

Sasha snorted, “Sorry Stoker that would require you to be sexy. Criteria not met.”

“Oooh betrayal!” Martin called, looking away innocently when Tim leveled a playful glare at him. 

Jon rolled his eyes, “There is a dress code for the party you know. No one else will actually get dressed up.”

“What’s Elias going to do? Get mad?”

“He can fire us, you know that right?” Jon shot back.

Tim shrugged, “Nah he wouldn’t we are amazing workers.” This got a laugh from both Sasha and Martin and he gave another betrayed glare. Jon laughed under his breath, looking at his mug of almost cold tea. 

“Anyway come on please dress up with me you guys, we can have a group costume!” Tim gives puppy dog eyes and Sasha laughs and rolls her eyes at him. Jon huffed.

“As long as we all go looking Friday before drinks I'm not opposed.” he flicked through the file, seeing it's about a man who could supposedly see ghosts.

Martin chimes in, “And no sexy outfits!”

“Aww no fun, the lot of you! But fine, we can find something cute. I still think Jon should be the Grim Reaper.”

“I second that.” Sasha says, “Jon’s costume that is.”

Martin hums, before laughing and looking at Jon, “Yeah I third.”

“Backstabbers the lot of you.” Jon says dramatically, before smiling behind his hand, “Maybe I will.”

\------

Jon walks into the café, thinking about nothing in particular. He had run to get coffee for a lunch break and the other three didn’t want to go. He had brushed it off, shoving the anxiety down like a champ. He ordered and saw something strange. A man with two death timers. One was expired, already fulfilled, and another that seemed to be impossible. 

Jon found that he was quite curious, and despite himself, went and sat down across from the man. This was a gamble.

“Did you die?” Jon asked, the man looked up confused. Looking at him and raising a brow.

“I didn’t think there were other avatars of the End just in London.” The man said. “I’m Oliver Banks, and you are?”

“Jonathan Sims. Nice to meet you.” Jon drank his coffee, and Oliver did the same. “It’s nice to meet others like me who don’t want me dead.”

“Yes there aren’t a lot of friendly monsters around.” Oliver jokes. Jon huffs a laugh.

“No there aren’t.”

Oliver hums, “Lets talk.”

“Sure. I’m on my lunch break.”

\------

“Oh my god you scared me!” Sasha exclaimed. Jon blinked a few times.

“What? What did I do?” He asked, fixing his hair out of his face.

Sasha took a deep breath and had a hand on her forehead, “You looked dead!”

Jon’s face scrunched in confusion and Sasha sighed in exasperation. She took her phone out and snatched a picture of him before handing it back.

He had the dead eyes going on, which were almost normal now. His face was almost ashy like death and his hands were colored like rigor mortis. The more he came back from zoning out the more color came back to him. He sheepishly apologized to Sasha and she rolled her eyes.

\-----

“Lord Jon you’re freezing!” Martin exclaimed, almost jumping back in surprise. Jon was actually cold as death, pun intended. Jon huffed, took his hand back and clutched it to his chest with a grumpy frown.

“No that doesn’t mean I don’t want to hold your hand, get back here!” Jon gave a mischievous smile that looked almost like the cat having knives pointed at it meme, before backing away as Martin tried to grab for his hand.

“You are so difficult sometimes you know that?”

Jon grins like the cat who got the cream, “I know.”

In Jon’s moment of victory Martin struck. Jon’s hand may be cold, but Martin’s need to be affectionate was stronger than his nerve endings. After his moment of surprise Jon smiled, leaning into Martin’s chest, his cheek pressed into the warmth of the hand knitted sweater.

**Author's Note:**

> Art by Art Harridan on Instagram! Please give her a follow and show her love!! Her arts always fantastic to see
> 
> https://www.instagram.com/p/CC9Rl45FoTY/?igshid=12yopun29sp8n


End file.
